In 25 years, Wendy Rosen had never experienced a check fraud. Rosen was the victim of an alleged serial embezzler named Rahiem Jackson, whom she hired as a temporary worker, after a referral from Spherion Corp.
The cost of the referral was $5,500. Rosen assumed that a basic reference check had been performed by Spherion. "When he applied for placement, " says Rosen, "the first listing on his resume was the Salvation Army and Spherion did not even call the Salvation Army."
Had Spherion called, they might have discovered that Jackson had worked for the Salvation Army from Nov 20 to Jan 14 and was fired for poor performance. Capt. Steven Ellis, the Salvation Army CFO, discovered the fraud through a simple reconciliation of bank statements on Feb 12. He ordered an audit and Jackson was soon indicted.
References, it seems, are an embezzler's best friend. They are far easier to forge than a check. And, like the bad checks, the embezzler counts on lack of scrutiny from those who vet him. As for Spherion, the staffing firm that referred Jackson, Rosen remains in a dispute with them.
"One of the problems here is that when you use a staffing firm, you assume that a limited amount of screening has been done - at least a small due diligence. All their websites and advertising give you the assurance you that you'll get the best possible candidate."
"What's amazing is that when Spherion found out that this happened and knew that we were a good long-term client of theirs, that they did not even offer to refund, " claims Rosen. "They rejected the concept of refunding a fee for this guy. All they wanted to do was send us more [candidates]. I said, 'I don't think so, I want my money back.'"
Ms. Rosen has shared her experience with hundreds of Baltimore area small businesses. As a result, Spherion Corp has sued Ms Rosen for defamation and RICO. Ms Rosen was forced to file a countersuit to recover her extensive legal costs which now exceeds $60,000.
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